What Is The Digitial Millenium Copyright Act?

U.S.C. Section 1201: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA):

• It is now a crime to circumvent anti-piracy programs or to manufacture and sell devices specifically made for circumvention.

• Nonprofits may crack copyright protection devices for encryption research, assessing product interoperability, and to test security systems.

• There are limits on copyright infringement liability for Internet service providers (ISPs). Fort Hays State University is an example of an ISP.

• ISPs, however, are expected to remove material that appears to constitute copyright infringement, and for that reason, Fort Hays State University has appointed David Schmidt as the infringement agent to receive complaints about any infringements on an FHSU web site.

• The DMCA also specifies that there be licensing fees for webcasters, to be set by the Register of Copyrights.

• The DMCA extends the archives rights of libraries [Section 108 b and c], allowing them to convert copyrighted print and other non-digital media to electronic media for storage and retrieval purposes, but the digital copy must be unavailable offsite of the library premises unless it is in the public domain or the library has permission.

• Finally, DMCA also requires that the Register of Copyrights study the impact of the DMCA on “criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research” and submit periodic recommendations.